Today Is Going To Be Ruthless

You must be born again
and again and again and shake
yourself to life — separation
is natural and unless you treat it
as a joke you might as well throw
yourself into some abyss.

That’s what I really meant to say
when I spoke about black hole irises,
a hollow look that is serious and sucks
the vitality out of all the light
bulbs in the room. But of course
I also chose to drink when I was looking
and maybe misinterpreted a stare
at a shaving nick as something severe.

-C.S. Henderson